13 Dead in Louisiana as Some Return to Flooded Homes

The death toll in Louisiana has risen to 13, ABC News reports. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson will visit the state on Thursday to review the federal government’s response to what Governor John Bel Edwards called “unprecedented” flooding.

Some 70,000 people have registered for individual assistance, and more than 9,000 have filed flood insurance claims. The flood waters have begun to recede, and thousands of people are returning to their homes; many more remain homeless, however—more than 5,000 people across south Louisiana. From The Advocate:

For those without family to turn to and with homes swept away or ruined by feet of water, life offers little certainty for the coming weeks and months. Ricks said some of those who left shelters are coming back after finding no power and a fetid stench from mud coating their homes.

Not even the governor knows yet what to do with those left homeless by the floods, saying it’s too early to speak about temporary housing beyond shelters as rescue missions continue and state officials work to tally up just how many lost all.

“We have to take into consideration this particular group of storm victims and what their needs are going to be,” Gov. John Bel Edwards said Tuesday.

Of those killed in the flooding, The Advocate reports, seven drowned in or near their vehicles. At least one was not a local, but just passing through. Others were killed after declining to evacuate their homes.